AI video has gone through a strange change in the last couple of years. At first, the early clipsweregettingattentiononlybecausetheywerenew.Theneveryonestartedusingthe same five-second cinematic shots, a woman walking in a rainy street, a futuristic city, someone looking out of a window dramatically.
Theylookedcool.Thentheygotboringprettyfast.
What is more interesting now is that Indian filmmakers are using AI for real problems in production. They are not just using AI to make another clip. They are trying scenes with it, creating difficult locations, making a music video, or showing a producer, “This is what the ideacouldlooklike,”beforespendingmoneyonit.Sothatgivesusamoreusefulquestion than, “Can AI make a movie?”
WhatpartsoffilmmakingisAIactuallygoodenoughtohandle?
What Indian film maker sare makingwith AI
Oneprojectthatgivesabetterideaofwherethisisheadingis“Meghna”,ananimatedshort developedbyProf.SudeshBalanatIITBombay.Thestoryisaboutayounggirlwhogrows up with her grandmother and eventually becomes an astronaut. Instead of building all the environments and space sequences through a normal animation pipeline, Balan used several AI tools to generate the visual material. He then put the material together using regularediting.BalanhadalreadyworkedonthescriptandstoryboardbeforestartingtheAI part. He used different AI tools to create the visuals, but the filmmaker was still deciding what should actually be shown.
Anotherexampleis“TheLight”,ashortfilmmadebyKottayamfilmmakerSachuMathew Kuruvilla. It is about an old man, a dove and a streetlight, with no dialogue. The music carries the story. AI was used to create the visuals, and the finished film was taken to
AI-focusedfilmfestivals ai image to video generator for products.
Music videos are a different story. Look at Talwiinder’s Dil Mera Part 2. The song got a mediaeval, fantasy like world around it, and most of the visuals were made using AI. A normalshootforsomethinglikethiscouldbecomeexpensiveandcomplicated.Thevisual can be much bigger or stranger than what a regular production can easily manage.
Where AI filmmaking software isactually useful
A director might have an idea of a scene but want to see how it looks before the actual shoot.AIfilmmakingsoftwarecanhelpwiththat.Theycantryadifferentlocation,camera angle or lighting and get a rough idea of the scene.
The same goes for storyboards as well. They can be used to get a rough idea of how a scene will look without shooting it yet or even to explain a shot or a camera movement. Therearesmallerjobstoo,likeextendingabackground,cleaningupashotoraddingsome atmosphere. These are small Things that would take time but not a lot of time on a large scale project. But you could use up time if you have a small project.
Trikal AI, an Indian AI studio, has also used AI for previsualisation on a PAN India feature filmstarringVarunDhawananddirectedbyJudeAnthanyJoseph.Thisallowedthemtosee what they were working with before the shoot.
Whats till needs a human
AIcandoalot,includinggeneratingactors,locations,shots,backgroundmusicandevenfull stories and scenes, but there are still some major things left for humans. A director decides how an actor should actually play a scene. When they should pause, look away, hesitate or stay silent. AI can generate emotions, but it doesn’t understand them.
The same goes for editing. AI can suggest where to cut or where not to cut, but it depends on the person to decide when to keep a scene longer or stay a little longer. Continuity matterstoo.Thecharacter,movement,props,lighting,allthosesmalldetailshavetomatch from one shot to the next. The AI video production platform can make the shots, but someone still has to decide which ones actually work in the final film.
The problems you notice on ceyou start making longer videos
Making one good AI shot is pretty easy. The problem comes when that shot has to live with thenextten.Acharactercanwalkintoaroomwiththerightjacketinoneshot,abitdifferent face in the next, and a differently viewed room in another. Individually they may look good, but together you will notice the difference immediately.
Thesameappliestomovementandperformance.Oneclipacharacterisangry,thenext they are strangely calm. Even if the scenes are meant to be continuous.
This is where longer AI videos take longer to make than they appear to. You are constantly generating,checking,tweakingandgeneratingagain.TheAIdoestheshotsfast,butittakes longer to make the shots seem like a single piece. The AI video production platform you use can make a difference here too. Some tools give you more control, while others are easier when you just want to test different shots.
And this is where agencies are finding a use for it too. AI filmmaking software foragenciescanmeanshowingaclientanadideaquickly,makingchangesandtryinganother version without starting the whole shoot again.
That’salreadyhappeninginIndia,whereSixteenByNineMediacreated64AI-generatedad films in seven days for Reliance SMART Bazaar, in multiple languages and formats.
So,will AI actually replace film makers?
Probably not, but it will replace some parts of the film production. A location scout will not spendawholedaylookingforfivedifferentplacesforashotthatcouldbecut.Adirectorcan test the same shot with different weather, lighting or camera positions before the team even comes there. With a multi model AI video generator, filmmakers can try different versions of crowds, background action or temporary dialogue while the film is still being planned.
Thatchangesthejobmorethanitremovesit.
AI filmmaking software lets filmmakers try out more ideas without spending much money onthem.Thisissomethingactuallyuseful,butthereisstillalottodecide-Whichversionis good? What needs fixing? What should just be dropped?
ItmaynotbeaquestionoffilmmakersbeingreplacedbyAIbuthowmuchworkbeingdone around making film is faster, cheaper and more tested on these things.
Frequently Used Questions
● Can AI make a complete short film?
Yes, it can. But the result still depends on the person who will put the script, the shots,theediting,thesound,andthecontinuity.Withoutallofthis,youwillhavea collection of clips, not a film.
● Do you need coding skills for AI filmmaking?
Not necessarily. Most AI tools work through text prompts. This means you do not needtoknowhowtocodetousethem.Allyouhavetodoistellthemwhatyouwant. You need to tell them how you want the scene to look and play out.
● What is amultimodel AI video generator?
ItisbasicallyonetoolwhereyoucanworkwithdifferentAIvideomodelsinthesame place. You can use different models while working on the same project, rather than creating a whole video around whatever one model can do.
● Is AI filmmaking for agencies good enough for client work?
Yes, for specific types of client work. AI filmmaking for agencies can be useful for ads, social posts, product visuals, concept videos and even some ideas for short campaigns.TheAifilmmakingsoftwareyouusealsobecomesimportantwhenthe project has multiple people, client changes, and different brand demands.
● Will AI filmmaking replace jobs?
Some parts of the work will change, of course. Simple things such as basic backgroundcreation,VFX,roughstoryboardingordummyfootagecanalreadybe carried out by AI.
But filmmaking still requires direction, acting, cinematography, editing and all the otherworkthatgoesintothedecisionsmadeinthoseareas.Thejobsmaychange as the tools become better, but the process itself will not disappear.
